Dear alumni,
I wanted to take a moment to connect with you as we enjoy the remaining days of 2023 and prepare for the journey into a new year. It was so wonderful to see everyone at Homecoming, and to hear such heartwarming stories of what had brought you back to campus – whether it was reconnecting with old friends or showing your children (or grandchildren!) your old haunts, or just a longing to return to a place that felt like home. Queen’s pride was on full display.
I couldn’t chat with everyone, of course, and so I want to take this opportunity to underscore the many things that happened here at Queen’s in 2023 that have been critically important to our mission and goals.
And I preface this by saying that although these have all been significant events for the university, I am well aware that they loom large, in part, because they rest upon a foundation of thousands of everyday acts of kindness, charity, and service that are truly at the heart of what it means to be Queen’s alumni. Whether you are a class volunteer, attended one of our many alumni events, gave your support to a bursary or fund, or came out to cheer on the Gaels, you gave of yourselves to Queen’s – please know that you have my gratitude, and that of the Advancement Leadership Team.
In February, Bruce Mitchell, Sc’68, DSc’20, made a transformative gift of $30 million with the goal of increasing research intensity and supporting graduate student recruitment. The gift will provide funding for research, the hiring of nine new faculty members and more than 50 postdoctoral fellows, and allow the university to increase the size of its graduate student body.
Also in February, we partnered with the Weeneebayko Area Health Authority (WAHA) and the Mastercard Foundation to transform health care in Northeastern Ontario and to expand education and employment opportunities for Indigenous youth through the creation of the Queen’s Weeneebayko Health Education Program. This program will provide programming and resources to enable Indigenous youth to envision, pursue, and succeed in careers in medicine, nursing, midwifery, and other specializations through culturally informed education.
In June, we celebrated the incredible news that Queen’s ranked first in Canada and third worldwide out of more than 1,700 participating institutions in the Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings – a global ranking of universities that are advancing the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). What’s more, Queen’s is the only Canadian university to achieve three top-10 placements since the rankings began in 2019.
And this fall, we were all so pleased to celebrate the grand opening of the Lang Pavilion – the final piece of the Richardson Stadium Revitalization project. This was the result of more than 300 donors coming together to make this possible, with alumni Stu Lang, Sc’74, and Kim Lang, Artsci’76, leading the way.
Last, but certainly not least, last month we announced a new name for the university's Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science in honour of an historic $100-million gift by leading Canadian philanthropist and financial services entrepreneur Stephen J.R. Smith, Sc’72, LLD’17. This is the largest gift made to an engineering faculty in Canada, one of the largest to any university in Canada, and one of the largest ever to Queen’s.
At the event that celebrated this remarkable gift, Stephen Smith spoke eloquently about how his wish was not only to help Queen’s create one of the best engineering schools in the world, but also that it would act as a catalyst for others to give. In this season of giving, Stephen’s words have resonated with me as I have, time and again, been astounded by the generosity of our alumni. As I mentioned, I also include generosity of spirit, for we have been rich with gifts of volunteerism, collaboration, and participation. Each dollar, each hour, each extension of a helping hand is an act of giving, and an investment in the future of Queen’s.
I hope these reminders of the year we have just gone through together will give you hope, inspire you, and serve to remind us of the pride, so evident at Homecoming, that truly unites us all.
Karen Bertrand, Artsci’94
Vice-Principal (Advancement)
